As it turned out, the person creating trouble was an old enemy. Before I get too carried away, though, let me recount everything from the beginning.
The next day, I went to Divine Path University, as promised. After receiving directions from the administrative office, I headed to the university stadium at the center. Already, a group of students had gathered, waiting for the instructor to brief them. I mingled with the crowd, keeping a low profile and staying apart from them, but not too far that I would stick out as a deliberate loner.
Unfortunately, I still ended up catching the eye of a supposedly old friend. Someone I had forgotten over the last one and a half year.
Shao Ye.
He and his cronies hadn't participated in the tournament, choosing to forfeit right at the start because they didn't think they would stand a chance against the elite class. Funnily enough, they had watched the match between me and the elite class, and because I had defeated Long Fan Xue, they had wisely kept their distance from me.
Bullies tended to be cowards. They preferred to pick on the weak. When they found out I was stronger than them, they didn't dare to provoke me. Or at least that was what I thought, but there were other ways around strength and cultivation realm.
"That bastard…" Shao Ye hissed. "For some reason, ever since that tournament during our second year, Long Fan Xue's attention has been on him. And then he defeated again in the last tournament this year. I swear, that only made her fall more deeply for him."
"Uh, young master, I'm not sure about that? You say that, but she hasn't approached him at all."
"Wouldn't she be a better match for Li Wang anyway?"
"What are you talking about? Li Wang already has a fiancée. They've announced their engagement in a grand ceremony a few months ago. Didn't you watch it online?"
"Man, I'm so jealous of rich people…"
"Would you all shut up?!" Shao Ye snapped. When his cronies fell silent, he rubbed his hands gleefully. "Now that he's out of the affiliated high school and trying to get into university, I finally have a chance to take revenge!"
"…revenge, young master?" One of them asked, puzzled. "Revenge for what?"
"What did Song Jun Wen do to the young master again?"
"I don't remember…"
"Shut up! He offended and humiliated me, all right?! He stole my woman from me!"
"…oh." The subordinates nodded in understanding, even though none of them remembered any such incident. They did know that Shao Ye regarded Long Fan Xue as his woman, though. And something as trivial as her looking at another guy was enough to trigger him.
Having been the victims of his foul temper, they wisely kept silent and allowed him to rage.
"Anyway," Shao Ye cleared his throat. "I know the invigilator working in Divine Path University. He's open to bribes, as usual. As long as I pay him, he'll be more than happy to, shall we say, alter the contents of the examination and adjust the difficulty for a single individual student." He chuckled. "We'll show him that strength doesn't matter! It's wealth and connections that rule over all in modern society!"
"…that's a complete reversal of his former belief in 'strong eat the weak,'" one of the underlings whispered to the others.
"Quiet! If the young master hears you, he'll kill you!"
Shao Ye chuckled when he caught sight of the invigilators going to the podium to brief the students. He hurried over to one of the assistants, who turned around. He was a balding middle-aged man with glasses and a neatly trimmed beard.
"Aren't you Mr. Shao's son? Are you also here to participate in the exam?"
"No, I already got in through the backdoor. My dad donated enough money for me to be a guaranteed a spot without the need to take the exam."
"Oh?" The man cocked an eyebrow. "Then what are you here for?"
"Uncle Yan, I need you to do me a favor." Shao Ye grinned and shoved a thick wad of bills into Yan Jin's hand. "I want you to make things difficult for one of the participants. I can tell you he'll be trouble if he makes it into the university, so do your best to fail him."
"You know I can't do that," Yan Jin protested. "If they catch me…"
"Oh, I don't mean fail him outright. Just…increase the difficulty whenever he takes a test."
"That I can do." Yan Jin beamed after Shao Ye leaned in and whispered several things into his ear, including the information of the student he wanted to create trouble for. "I heard of his name. He's only applying for the regular class. We don't need such students who lack ambition. Leave it to me, young master."
"Teacher Yan Jin, what are you doing?" One of the two assistants, a young lady in her twenties, waved at him. Unlike the two men who wore suits, she wore a cheongsam for some reason. She also wore glasses, but her long black hair had been tied to a neat bun. Beside her, a young man, similarly aged, smiled in a friendly manner, dressed in a black suit with a tie.
"Oh, just saying hello to a prospective student that I know." Yan Jin bowed to Shao Ye and rejoined them. He reached the podium and cleared his throat. "Listen up, everyone. The recruitment exam will be starting shortly. I'm your main supervisor, Yan Jin, and these are my assistants, Ge and Shi. We will be having five rounds of tests, so be prepared. Now, we'll be marking attendance, so if you hear your name, please sound off."
He began reading out names from a list. When he reached mine…
"Song Jun Wen!"
"Here, sir!"
"Oh, so it's you." For some reason, Yan Jin narrowed his eyes and regarded me coldly. I felt a chill run down my spine. That look reminded me of a predator studying its prey. I was pretty sure I had never met him before, so why did he hold me in such contempt?
Afterward, he continued to rattle names off the list. Once he had ensured that everyone was present, he officially announced the start of the exam.
"Let's begin the first round. It's to test your physical strength. We will be evaluating your strength according to your talent. Obviously, body tempering cultivators will be required to display more strength than esoteric types. Just punch this device here, and we'll measure your strength."
He gestured to a hi-tech punching bag in the middle of the stadium, which had armor plates and a screen at the top. The assistants took their place on either side, ready to record the values displayed on the screen.
"Qiang Zhe, you're a body type cultivator, so you need at least 800kg worth of force to pass."
"Not a problem!" A muscular guy jumped onto the stage, his arms bulging as he infused them with qi. His skin took on a silvery tint as he executed his Steel Spirit technique, and he punched the device as hard as he could, rocking it. The numbers flashed across the screen, displaying 828.
"828 kg. You pass. Next, Mo Fan. You're an esoteric type who uses elemental techniques, and your main weapon is the sword instead of the fist, so you only need 500kg to pass."
"Okay." A slender guy with dark hair strode to the stage confidently. Fire ignited around his fist and he yelled as he punched the device. It didn't budge this time, weathering both heat and impact, and the numbers turned from zero to 564.
"564kg. You pass."
This continued on, with more and more students being called up. I idled at the back, waiting patiently for my turn. For some reason, I was the last guy, but that was fine. Even if I went first, I still had to wait for the others before we could proceed to the next round.
A few of the students failed to make the cut and were leaving the stadium with slumped shoulders. I felt sorry for them, but reminded myself that I had yet to pass myself. I should save the sympathy for myself when I failed. Assuming I failed, of course. I doubted I would fail, but still…you never know. As Teacher Jiao Shi said, I shouldn't underestimate the difficulty of the entrance exams.
"Song Jun Wen." Yan Jin waited for me to come forward before he sneered. "You need at least 1,500kg to pass. Any lesser, you fail. Please leave afterward."
"What?" Ge gasped in shock. "Teacher Yan, that makes no sense! Song Jun Wen is not a body cultivator! He's an archer type cultivator who fights from range!"
"Even if he's a body cultivator, 1,500kg is too much!" Shi added. "What are you doing?"
"I'm the main supervisor. I decide the standard of the exam. You guys are just assistants."
"How is this fair?"
This time, the outcry was from the students. They were muttering amongst themselves, outraged by the blatant harassment.
"It's obvious the main supervisor is making things difficult for this student. He's basically telling him to leave."
"Isn't this corruption?"
"Silence, all of you!" Yan Jin barked. "Anyone who's not happy with my decision can leave! You don't have to pass the exam if you don't want to!"
His words were effective. The students all turned mute, but most of them stared at me with pity.
"That's fine." I sighed and shook my head. Ascending to the stage, I took a deep breath and infused my qi into my fist. "1,500kg, right?"
"That's correct. Any less, and you fail. You can give up and leave right now if you're not confident." Yan Jin had a nasty grin on his wrinkled face. I ignored him, sliding my legs back and bracing myself before I threw my right fist forward. Azure qi exploded upon contact and the entire device was ripped out of its base and hurled across the stadium, landing several meters away.
"HOLY F…!"
"What the hell is that strength!?"
"Is he human?!"
The screen flickered, displaying 2,500kg, even as sparks flew from severed cables. Both Ge and Shi recorded down the values. Cold perspiration ran down Yan Jin's face, even as he stared disbelieving at the wreckage.
"Song Jun Wen…strength is way above the standard required. You…you passed the first round."
"Thank you." I lowered my right hand and bowed before getting off the stage. Shaking my head, I tried to wrap my mind around what had just happened. "Was the device supposed to be that fragile? Sorry, I didn't mean to damage it."
"His cultivation realm is at least Mystic rank if he can throw a punch beyond 2,000kg despite not being a body cultivator," Ge whispered to Shi, clutching her clipboard. Her pen trembled in her hand.
"Yeah. Is that why Teacher Yan demanded such a high standard from him?" Shi wondered out loud. "He must have already known that Song Jun Wen is Mystic rank. As expected of the main supervisor! We shouldn't have questioned his decision."
"Why does he look so shocked, though? He's blankly staring off into space, with his mouth wide open."
"Huh? So does he know or doesn't know?"
The two assistants exchanged puzzled glances, but before they could call out to Yan Jin, the older man snapped out of his stupor and gestured toward the next stage.
"All right, the first round of the exam is done. Everyone who has passed, please proceed to the next round!"
The other students looked around, still dazed from what had just transpired, before they slowly spun about and followed the strolling Yan Jin to the next section of the stadium. The main supervisor was muttering under his breath, dabbing at the sweat on his face as he scowled. I frowned and studied him, but without evidence that he was up to something, I had no choice but to follow along for now.
It didn't matter. Whatever odd requirements he might have for me, I was determined to pass the entrance exam and get into Divine Path University.